CHAPTER X
THE DIVORCE SUIT

WE pause for a moment to glance back at the scenes already
performed before we witness the few that remain* Parnell
was now in his forty-fourth year, and had been a member
of the House of Commons for fifteen years* In that time
he had grown from a shy* stammering* nervous* and extra-
ordinarily ignorant young man into one of the most powerful
leaders in the history of English politics* The Irish party,
which had been a disregarded and derided gang of amiable
job-hunters when he joined it, was now an influential and
highly-disciplined body of resolute and tireless patriots
serving their country at some cost to themselves* This change
in the status and character of the party was almost entirely
the work of Parnell* We may be sure that it could not have
been made without his help* He had achieved unity where
there had been disorder* and authority where there was none*
The place-hunters and time-servers are never quite eliminated
from any society* but they were nearly eliminated from
ParnelTs party* Finally, he had compelled the English
Parliament to concern itself with Irish affairs, and had put
Home Rule into the programme of the Liberal party* Self-
government for Ireland was no longer a matter for academic
discussion on a Parliamentary off-day, but a practical pro-
posal which might at any moment become a fact* When we
are tempted to doubt the ability or greatness of Parnell, we
need only test him in one way: what was the state of the
Irish party before he took command of it, what was its state
during the eleven years he led it, and what was its state for
thirty years after his death ? The test does not defeat him*
After his triumph over The Times, he seemed to be on
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